Canseco sought investment from Ordonez to keep name
'clear' in book

NEW YORK -- Jose Canseco offered to keep Magglio Ordonez
"clear" in his upcoming book if the Detroit Tigers outfielder
invested in a movie project promoted by Canseco, The New York Times
reported Wednesday night.

The newspaper cited "a person in baseball with knowledge of the
situation" in a report on its Web site and said four people in
baseball, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Major League
Baseball referred the matter to the FBI.

Ordonez decided not to go forward with a complaint, so the FBI
didn't open a formal investigation, the newspaper said. Ordonez
spoke to Tigers president Dave Dombrowski, who contacted MLB.

"I didn't want to press charges against him," Ordonez was
quoted as saying. "I don't want any problems. He is probably
desperate for money. I don't understand why he is trying to put
people down."

Ordonez, teammates with Canseco on the 2001 Chicago White Sox,
said Canseco didn't specifically ask him for cash.

"One of Jose's friends was leaving me messages," Ordonez was
quoted as saying. "I told Dombrowski because I didn't know why he
was calling me."

Canseco told the paper that neither he nor any associate asked
Ordonez for money in exchange for avoiding mention in
"Vindicated," which is scheduled for publication March 31.

"Absolutely not," Canseco was quoted as saying.

Canseco said he unsuccessfully attempted to reach Ordonez.
Canseco refused to say whether he would implicate Ordonez with
performance-enhancing drug use in the book.

Scott Boras, Ordonez's agent, filed a complaint with the FBI
after Canseco spoke with a Boras employee and said Ordonez would be
"clear" if the outfielder invested in the movie project, the
newspaper said.

Last year, Canseco was reportedly trying to put together a movie
based on "Juiced," his 2005 book that implicated Mark McGwire andJason Giambi, among others, in the use of performance-enhancing
drugs.

Ordonez was not implicated in the Mitchell report on drugs in
baseball or in Canseco's first book.